My SoCalled Life UK Edition
by Happyaslarry
Summary: This takes place right after Angela finds out Brian wrote the letter. Angela's parent's decide to take a little trip...
1. Chapter one

Author's Note This is my first story...ever. I was inspired one night while watching a commercial for My So-Called Life. The episode where Brian writes the letter to Angela for Jordan Catalano. I wondered: What if Angela never went with Jordan? What if she never went with Brian either? And so, my story: Disclaimer: Oh and I also don't own any of the stuff in that show, although I wish I owned Jared Leto...  
My So-Called Life U.K.Version  
  
Angela lies in her bed late at night, recalling the events of that day: Her talk with Brian and Jordan and her promise to both of them that she would need a month to think. She gets up and starts to pace around the room, occasionally looking out the window to see if Brian was watching her. He wasn't, of course, because it was 2:00 in the morning. She fell asleep to hours later with images of Brian and Jordan both in her mind.  
  
The next morning Angela woke up to her alarm, went down for breakfast and was eating a piece of toast when she realized that no one else was in the kitchen. She went back upstairs and started to get dressed, then decided to wake up her parents because she was late for the bus as evidenced by the belching smoke coming from the corner. She tiptoed into their bedroom and gently shook her mom, who came awake slowly and with a lot of groaning. "Mom? I need a ride," she whispered. Her mom, who was almost fully awake by then responded, "Angela, go back to sleep, the plane's not for another four hours." Angela looked at her mom like she was crazy because Angela obviously didn't know anything about a plane. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said. Now, it was her mother's turn to give Angela an incredulous look. "The plane to England, remember? We told you all about it last night!" Angela thought for a second and fuzzily remembered something about England from dinner last night, but then she had been too worried about her own problems to pay any attention to her family. "Ok," she said to her mom, "go back to sleep."  
  
Angela walked slowly back to her room and tried to fall asleep but, after a half hour of lying on her bed not sleeping, she decided to pack, something she probably should have done last night. She had neglected to ask her mom how long they would be in England during their brief conversation, so she packed almost her entire closet, enough for a month in England. After that she moped around the house, not knowing what to do in the three hours she had left in the U.S., then went outside and took a walk. She just needed some time to clear her head and for some odd reason, walking around in the early morning seemed to be the way to do that. She was careful to be back in time before her parents woke up.  
  
The plane ride over was nothing special; peanuts, bad movies and eight hours with Danielle. Angela spent most of the time sleeping, or pretending to, so she wouldn't have to interact with her family. When they landed in Heathrow at 4:00 in the morning her mom would not stop talking about the "cool" things the family was going to do in England. Angela was beginning to think that she might have to move out because she could not deal with her family anymore.  
  
The Chase family checked into their hotel and unpacked, not speaking much. Graham watched a movie while Patty read a book and Danielle annoyed Angela, who was just sitting on the bed, not doing much. The Chase family finally fell asleep with Patty's final words in their heads. "We'd better get some sleep; tomorrow is going to be a big day!"  
  
Graham Chase woke up dying to check out the hotel food. He roused the family and took them downstairs, all except Angela, who complained that she felt sick. Her mother seemed concerned when Angela asked to stay in the hotel while the family did the "touristy thing." Patty finally relented although she did leave Angela the numbers of the places they were going to be and some money to buy lunch if she got hungry.  
  
Angela didn't really feel sick, she just didn't feel like walking around London with her mom and dad and little sister. So, she waited for a half hour, got changed and went out into London with the money her mom gave her. She walked along Carnaby st. where she bought a pair of earrings and lunch in a small sidewalk café. She spent the rest of the afternoon just walking around London until she caught a glimpse of a Jordan Catalano look-alike in a small bakery. She didn't get to talk to him, however, because her family was going to come back soon, so she decided to pull the sick trick on her family again and talk to the guy tomorrow.  
  
It worked perfectly, her mom left her money and phone numbers again and they all left Angela alone. Angela moved as soon as they left. She took a shower and put on the outfit that she thought Jordan like best. She set out at eleven and reached the bakery at 11:30. "Jordan" wasn't there so she asked the older-looking gentleman behind the counter, "There was a boy about my age here yesterday, around 4:30. Could you tell me when his next shift is?" The old man smiled at her kindly. He went off on a small tangent, as old people tend to do. "Oh yes, the ladies love that boy. Rather like myself when I was a youngster, before the war..." He stopped talking for a minute with a small smile on his face, obviously remembering long ago. Angela gave a small cough and he snapped out of his dreamland. "His next shift, sir?" she said. "Yes, yes he'll be here in an hour." After this statement he coughed into his small, white handkerchief. Angela smiled, "Thank you, I'll see you then!"  
  
Angela walked around with a smile on her face for the next hour. There was a small moment of excitement where she narrowly missed running into her parents on the street. Luckily, she saw them before they saw her and she ducked into the alley and ran behind the dumpster waiting there. Unfortunately for Angela, there already was someone occupying the space next to the dumpster. A tall, handsome young man in a white shirt and dark blue jeans sat there smoking a cigarette. A light rain started to fall on the both of them as the young man seemed to notice Angela for the first time. He lifted his head to speak to her and she realized that it was the Jordan look-alike from the bakery. She knew in the back of her mind that it couldn't be Jordan, but yet she couldn't resist calling him by that name. She looked up into face and said, "Jordan? Is that you?" 


	2. Chapter two

A/N Sorry abut the cliffhanger, I had a small case of writer's block.  
  
Chapter Two  
  
Angela and the strange man stood face to face in the rainy London ally. When he spoke Angela was captivated by the smooth, deep sound of his voice. She was so stunned that she missed what he said completely and had to say, "What?" like an idiot. She felt like a total idiot standing in front of him like that. She didn't realize it consciously, but that was the way she felt around Jordan Catalano too. He said, "I'm sorry, I don't know who you're talking about." Angela thought about what she could say to save herself. "Oh, I must have mistaken you for someone else." She gave him an apologetic smile.  
  
James (Jimmy to his friends) only wanted to have a quiet smoke in the alley before his horrible job at the bakery where he had to smile at everyone and endure all the middle-aged women hitting on him all day. What he really wanted to do was sit at home with his guitar and write songs. But then there was the fact that he didn't have a guitar and his mother couldn't meet the rent with only her own crappy job. Then some strange girl (American by the look of her) had to interrupt him, almost knock him down. She was slow, too, apparently because he had to repeat twice that his name wasn't Jordan. Who the fuck was Jordan anyway? But then she smiled at him and put her hair behind her ear, something that always endeared women to James. James decided that maybe she wasn't that bad, kind of cute really and invited her to a party later at one of his friend's houses. He told her he would pick her up at 11:00 in front of the hotel.  
  
If you had asked Angela how she was feeling at that very moment, she couldn't have responded. She felt exactly like the first time Jordan had kissed her. She was blissful, her mind having been taken off the problem of Jordan and Brian. She felt she could even stand a few hours of her family. She still had to pretend to be sick, though so she told her parents she wanted to go to sleep early and faked it for an hour or so until they fell asleep themselves. It was almost 10:30 when that happened, so she had to get ready quickly. She changed into one of her favorite party outfits, a get-up that she felt Rayann would be proud of. She felt a small stab of guilt when she thought of Rayann. Angela then made a promise to herself to make up with her once they got back.  
  
Angela was surprised how easy it was to sneak out of the hotel room. The door opened without a sound and there were no bellhops or creepy managers hanging around the lobby. Angela was sure to bring a key with her for soundless entry when she got back, whenever that would be. The small blue car was waiting for her outside, with him driving. She was caught again by how much he looked like Jordan. "It's the eyes" she thought to herself quickly before stepping into the car. The front was already occupied, so she sat in the back with an attractive 15-year-old girl. The girl looked Angela up and down appraisingly before nodding a silent salutation. James did the same gesture. The atmosphere in the car was slightly awkward, because a stranger was there, so the guy in the front seat nervously began to pick up the thread of conversation. "So, with Nikki on bass, me on the drums and you on lead guitar and vocals we could really ummm... rock...or whatever." He said, stuttering a few times. James seemed totally at ease in the car and answered the guy smoothly, "Mark, mate, how many times do I have to tell you, I have no guitar?" Mark seemed to be feeling more comfortable himself retorted, "And how many times do I have to tell you that my friend has an old Fender that you can buy cheap?" And they were there.  
  
The party was at an old, abandoned warehouse a few blocks away form the bakery where James worked. Indeed, it was James that had suggested that the party be there. Another friend of James's was the DJ, spinning a mix of Metal and Dance records on some secondhand equipment that managed to sound halfway decent. James took Angela around, introducing her to people and seemingly magically refilling her drink whenever it ran out. After about an hour Angela found herself in a corner with James, sitting on some old boxes, talking about music. Angela wasn't really a music freak but she had picked some things up, hanging around Frozen Embryos. She managed to sound smart for about half an hour until all of Jordan's tidbits ran out and she turned to the reason she knew all the information. They started to talk about Jordan and their messed up relationship which horrified Angela and she tried to steer the conversation elsewhere but James wouldn't let her.  
  
James was feeling the same way he felt about all parties when he went. He felt connected to everyone because he knew everyone, but underlying that was a feeling of discontentment because he felt like he knew everyone too well, like he could tell you how the party was going to go before he even got there. That's why he ended up talking to the new girl, Angela. He needed something new in his life, he needed excitement. He was fascinated by her artist's perspective of music, as though she had been there. Then he learned about the man that Angela had seemed to love so passionately in such a short period of time and how she was so uncomfortable talking about herself. In fact, she didn't look at him once, when she was talking about Jordan. James's mind began to work out the problem even while his mouth was busy trying to get Angela to come out of her shell and really talk to him about Jordan. Even as his brain came to the brink of a conclusion, the words came out of Angela's mouth. "You look exactly like him." 


	3. Chapter three

A/N. This is really creepy. I've never written this much this fast before. But you, my lucky readers get a lot of chapters fast. Enjoy! Sorry about the short chapter but I've got big plans for the next one. Promise!  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Angela felt like a compete idiot. She couldn't believe that she had told James he looked like Jordan. What brain particles had died and let her mouth spew out those horrible words? She felt her face flush and was glad that the warehouse was dark. Funny thing though, James didn't seem fazed by Angela's statement. He was smiling. He stood up and extended his hand to Angela and asked her to dance. Angela was tempted to say no, she wasn't really into dancing. Luckily, at that very second when the word "no" was on her lips, a slow song came on. Angela breathed a sigh of relief, slow dancing she could do, and gladly. She took his hand and they walked onto the dance floor together.  
  
James's mind was racing. After that sentence came out of Angela's mouth James's higher brain functions lost control and the rest of him tried to get some sort of profit from the situation. So, he asked her to dance. Towards the end of the song, his brain came back together, turns out his brain was trying to find something to say that would save their "relationship" (if you could call it that.) He leaned in towards her ear so she would hear him clearly and said, "Even though we look similar, I hope you realize we are different people."  
  
When James said those words to Angela, it clicked. That wasn't one of the ideas that wake you up at 3:00 in the morning. Right then, on that dance floor it clicked. She was free to have a totally different relationship with James. James wasn't Jordan and Jordan wasn't James. She would not make the same mistakes with James. She decided to be bold and take the first move, so she kissed him.  
  
James had never been kissed by a girl before. He had always had to be the one to make the first move, and he was quite used to it. During the kiss he decided that being kissed by a girl was defiantly better that kissing a girl. After the kiss, he realized that, although he had enjoyed the kiss, he had been thinking during the kiss. He was confused by this. He thought Angela had been what he wanted, bold, wild, beautiful but during that kiss he realized that he didn't care for Angela.  
  
The kiss was not what Angela had been expecting. She had expected fireworks and her heart skipping a beat. Here was a better version of Jordan Catalano. He was just as good looking but he was smarter and he had an accent. When they pulled back from the kiss they looked each other in the eye and said at the same time, some version of, "I don't love you." They smiled, hugged and became friends without any sexual feelings at all.  
  
When Angela got back to the hotel later, around 1:30 she climbed back into bed with a smile on her face. 


	4. Chapter four

A/N Sorry about all you people who love Angela and Jordan or Angela and Brian but I can't see her with either of them!  
  
Chapter four  
  
Angela woke up knowing that she couldn't pull the sick gag again. Once her parents work up, Angela had concocted a story about going out to eat yesterday and meeting a friend. Then all she needed was permission to hang out with them. Which she got. She skipped out on breakfast and went to the bakery. James was behind the counter and gave her a free bagel when she told him she hadn't had breakfast. They made plans to go to the movies with a bunch of his friends later.  
  
She met up with her family at an open air market and spent the next couple hours with her family, laughing and joking. It was almost like the old times before Jordan and Rayanne, she thought. Although, whenever Patty got on the subject of Jordan, Angela changed the subject. This made Patty nervous. She wanted to know. She was always prodding and poking into Angela's brain. She wanted to be in control. This, in turn, made Angela nervous. But on this day, a glorious day in England with plans later, Angela's mood couldn't be darkened.   
  
She left her family with a smile, for once. A short walk to the theater with the sun in her face had her arriving with a smile too. There was then a stupid argument on which movie to see,(A/N I don't know what movie were playing then, so excuse the modern day movie) King Arthur winning because they were in the mood for a comedy. Angela, James and his friends piled into the theater and Angela ended up sitting between two people she didn't know. The girl in her left was dressed in dark jeans and a Ramones shirt. The boy on her right was wearing jeans as well, with a black Fender shirt. She assumed he was a guitarist. She turned to the girl and said, "Hey." The girl looked at Angela and said "Hey" back with a small smile. Angela then asked her name which was Lola Ray. They talked about the Ramones for a minute before the show started, then the guy broke in. He, apparently, was a huge fan of the Ramones too. They began an animated debate over the best Ramones song and almost missed the beginning of the movie. Only then did Angela remember to ask his name.  
  
Jack was sitting at home on Saturday night, watching TV when he got the call from James. He was glad to have plans, for once; also he didn't have to listen to another night of his mom complaining. He didn't even care what the movie was. He got a ride from his dad, who was going back to work, and arrived a little early. Soon, a group of about 15 of his friends showed up and they went in. In the confusion of buying popcorn for 15 teenagers, Jack got separated from the friend he was going to sit with and ended up sitting next to the newest member of the group, a girl he had never seen before. She didn't end up talking to him, though. A few minutes in silence left Jack feeling antsy, because he was normally a very talkative person. He then proceeded to interrupt the new girl's conversation with Lola.  
  
After the movie, when they all came pouring out of the theater Angela turned to her new friends, Jack and Lola. She felt that she had really connected to them at the movie. She told them she was in London for a month and gave them both her number at the hotel and told them to call her tomorrow. She started to walk away, then turned back to look for James. Finding him, she gave him her number as well and he promised to call her tomorrow with plans.  
  
The alarm went of at 7:30 the next morning and Patty groggily opened her eyes to see the back of Graham's head. She had worked out the perfect plan for today and couldn't wait to see what everyone thought. It involved a tour of Big Ben in the morning, lunch at a quaint sidewalk café just in time for the Changing of The Guards. She got up and gently shook Graham, Angela and Danielle to wake them up, then went to take a shower. When she came out ten minutes later, Graham was closing his eyes as Danielle and Angela got changed. He rushed into the bathroom when Patty came out, and she was careful to keep her eyes closed as well. When they were all ready, they went down for breakfast. Suddenly, Angela remembered that she had left her purse in the room. She ran back to get it and the phone rang.  
  
She came back down five minutes later and told her mom that she had been invited to go to a concert with Jack. Patty went into "concerned mom" mode. She started pelting Angela with questions. "Who is Jack?" "When and where is this concert?" "Who is Jack?" "How old is Jack?" When Angela started to answer some of the questions, Patty was not happy. She didn't like the idea of her daughter going off to a concert with a stranger who she hardly knew who happened to be older that her. Besides, Angela had hardly spent any time with her family on this vacation and Patty wanted her with them today. She told Angela that she wasn't allowed to go. Angela then proceeded to spend the day not talking to Patty and consequently made some plans of her own.  
  
A/N: PLEASE REVIEW! I really want some feedback people! 


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